In The Mind's Eye
by ShinigamiForever
Summary: Noin meets a young man named Zechs soon after her fiancé Quatre dies.


In The Mind's Eye- Part 1  
By: ShinigamiForever  
  
Summary: Noin meets a young man named Zechs soon after her fiancé Quatre dies.  
Pairings: Based on a Noin and Quatre pairing.  
Disclaimers: Gundam Wing does not, of course, belong to me. If it did, why would I be writing this pathetic fic?  
Warnings: Ah…none. At least I don't think there are any. A lot of rambling and disconnected phrases throughout the story. Live with it.   
Author's Notes: This is my first non-yaoi fic, so it's just a bit awkward. Noin's POV prevails in the story. Set in a mostly modern day world, except for the Preventer force. Comments and criticism to: 02_duo_maxwell@gundamwing.net. Thanks!  
  
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"Eyes like windows to the soul  
and to the heart.  
Connect me to your reflection,  
lock me in your crystal eyes..."  
-"Eyes Alone,"  
Soyoukaze  
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The windowpane was a doorway to the night outside, black and ambiguous. Stars and the moon were like the twinkling lanterns that washed themselves out on a velvet dark river, twisting and turning down the path until they went out. Phoenixes that dashed themselves into the fire, only to reemerge, stronger then before, and then to dash themselves into the fire again. The black water of the night churned outside, and I, being a mere human, was stuck in an office. I sighed, turning my attention back to my relentless computer screen. The new government code, PINC, had taken a while for me to get used to, and as it scrolled down my screen now, it took me a little more time to decode it, as I was still used to the DEMON system we had before.   
The silence that permeated the headquarters in a heavy blanket now was comfortable, a seeping silence that swept and ebbed your very existence with the promise of sleep. It was a treat after the noise and hustle that dominated during the day. Occasionally, the quiet click of the scroll bar of a mouse could be heard along with the gentle sound of passing breath that seemed unnaturally loud. The silence almost put me to sleep, like a soothing lullaby that rocked me. Slowly, the hours of sleep I was missing doubled their weight on my eyelids.  
An amused, soft, snort jolted me from my journey into Dreamland. With startling suddenness, I remembered there was still someone in HQ with me, namely, 1st class detective and assassin Heero Yui. He had, I realized, been in the room for quite a while, and he had stayed there completely unnoticed. I rubbed my eyes and brushed my dark violet hair out of my face. "What?" I asked, slightly annoyed, and returned to reading the document. Something stirred in the corner. As I read my files, it dawned on me that not only was Heero good at sleuth, he took full advantage of shadows and corners, which was the main reason I had thought I was alone. But he, however, was still no match for the "Shadow," as the other officers so often called Trowa Barton. Along with that, Duo Maxwell's skills as an infiltrator were an even, dead-on competition with Heero's amazing skills as a fighter, earning the American the well deserved name as Shinigami. And Duo could take a joke. Which was more than anyone could say about Heero. The Japanese officer did have a very dry sense of humor, I thought to myself.   
Heero shook his head slightly before turning his chair around to face me at an angle. "Tired?" he ventured, his Prussian blue eyes like sensors, licking me over quickly in an attempt to gather information. I leaned to the side to poke my head out from behind the computer, since I was at the front and he was at the back, facing the wall.   
Smiling, I asked, "Why do you care to know?" He shrugged, then turned back to his computer, absorbing all the information like a sponge with water. Heero never ceased to amaze me sometimes. I did the same and continued to read about the murder of some politician before he spoke again.  
"I could finish the document for you and forward a memo, if you like." Surprised, I looked out at him again from behind the computer. He had remained unchanged, still staring at the document with unblinking eyes. It was really his face that unnerved people, though. He turned his head, as if he knew I was staring. The smile he gave was slightly indistinct, a mix between uncertain and perceptive. "You'd remember it better, anyway." I laughed, then got up.   
"Yes, well then. Thank you, Heero." I left the computer open and pushed the chair in. He nodded, then watched me walk to the door before smiling that strange smile of his again.   
"No problem." He turned back to his computer. I walked out the door, shutting it softly behind me. The hallway was dimly lighted, forcing my eyes to adjust slightly before continuing. The floors were a tile that smelled like the fresh lemon cleaner used on them. They were always shiny and bright. My shoes made hard clicks on them, click for each step I took that neared me closer and closer to the outside. The fluorescent lights had been dimmed to save energy as in only a few officers used the HQ at night. The walls were a warm beige, not old, yet not the clean, new walls that were there in the beginning. I remembered when they were still new, and the dust could be wiped off, leaving a smudge of white powder on your fingers.  
I opened the door that let me out. Attached to the outside wall were a finger scan and an ID check. The HQ was usually more heavily guarded in the morning with two guards standing on the other side of the door. But at night, security cameras were on full alert to report to the surveillance guard.   
The night was quite warm. The stars were even brighter out there in person than through a window. There was a pleasant breeze that ruffled my hair around for a while. The streets were empty at 12:26, most of the lights in houses shut off. The moon was three quarters full, a pale light in the late midnight air. I walked along slowly, taking in each little sound of crickets and the trees.  
"Noin! Lucrezia! Wait up!" A vivid, tenor voice echoed down the street. I turned and looked, even though I knew immediately who it was without having to turn around. No one else possessed such an empathetic young voice as his. I should know.  
He ran up to me, pausing to catch his breath before giving me a dazzling grin. His soft golden blond hair almost glowed in the night, like a pale illumination against the darker world of the night. He had the most brilliant eyes, though, brighter than they should have been. A shade of blue-green that immersed you in their gentle depths, not the way Duo's eyes sucked you in with such intensity, or the way Heero's eyes searched you so deeply that you could hardly bear it, but rather calming and serene. The face was so expressive, coupled with Quatre's natural compassionate disposition. He was currently a private negotiator, one who helped the police take care of ransom demands and incidents like that. It was a dangerous job, to be sure, but one that Quatre did to the best of his abilities; that is to say, he did it better that any one of us other Preventers could have ever hoped for.   
Quatre was 4 years my junior, although his height could have fooled anyone. In the last few years, he had put on quite a few inches on his overall stature. He wasn't a foreboding, looming shadow that Wufei and Trowa had both turned out to be. Of course, Trowa was two years older than any of the other boys. It made no difference to me though. Age was merely a factor that effected some people. Others learned to veer away from that awkwardness.  
Standing next to him while he walked me home, I felt almost like a young high school girl again. One that was being walked home by her boyfriend. When they got to the house, they would kiss under the porch light, then say their good-byes and part their separate ways. In a way, it was true. Except for that I wasn't a young high school girl anymore. That was a long, long time ago. Well, almost. I was 25, working as basically a police for all the world. A world which needed one. Quatre wasn't my boyfriend. We had been engaged for a year, and we got along almost too perfectly. He never argued with me, mostly because we somehow found a way to agree on everything. I knew, subconsciously practically, that he would never cheat me. He was very sweet and kind, perhaps inhumanly so. I tried to be like him, so that he would not feel bad. Most of the time, it worked. When it didn't, Quatre was always there to help.   
And when we got to my house, a small apartment I shared with Sally Po, a co-worker, we would kiss and then part. But it wasn't the flippant behavior of a 15-year-old, nor was it the puppy love of a young woman. It was a kiss that meant something every time, that reassured and promised trust every time. And there was a beauty to it that others could never fully appreciate until they were in love themselves.  
"So, working yourself to death again?" Quatre asked, snaking an arm around my waist. I smiled, doing the same, and then rested my head comfortably against his shoulder. I looked up at him, then put on a small, mock pout.  
"You don't even know the half of it! Heero wouldn't even let me go to sleep!" I giggled a kind of laugh girls never lost. He laughed too. Quatre knew too well about Heero's working habits. After all, Quatre, Heero, Duo, Trowa, and Wufei were the tightest, most well-knitted group of friends I had ever met. They had grown up with each other, and each was able to name the faults and virtues of each other perfectly, like blood brothers. It had been awkward trying to include me, but eventually Heero invited Relena, Duo added a girl named Hirde, Trowa introduced us to his sister Catherine, and I paired Wufei up with Sally. In time, the girls formed their own little community that overlapped with the boys, and we were all happy.   
"Maybe I should scold him for trying to exhaust my future wife," Quatre added, in a pensive tone. I knew he was half joking and half serious. He did worry about me working too much, but he personally knew that Heero would look after me too. After all, the stone-faced Japanese had offered to translate the entire document for me. Showed he did have a kind side after all.   
"Nah. It was partly my fault too. I didn't get enough sleep for this entire week." I closed my eyes contently, leaning against him. I wished the moment could go on forever, me on his shoulder, the moon, the stars, and heck, even Heero all alone in the computer room. Which was kind of lonely to think about. Sometimes, we all felt sorry for him. No one really knew what the relationship between him and Relena was. It was quite obvious the girl was infatuated with Yui, but he didn't ever show like he felt like that too. Duo and Hirde were soul mates to be sure, each able to sympathize and reach out. Wufei and Sally acted like they both just endured one another. Which was probably true most of the time. Wufei usually ranted on and on about justice and power and strength. Half the time Sally just looked like she would like to give him a good smack in the face. Which was also probably true.  
Quatre sighed blissfully and hugged my waist tighter. It was an unconscious gesture of affection that slipped once a while. Things that lovers found themselves do reflexively. We were almost right in front of my house. He turned me around, gently, so that I faced him. A tentative hand crept up to my cheek. I felt the edges of his fingers carefully, lightly, stroking my cheek, like if he put just a little bit of pressure, I would break into a million little pieces. He leaned forward, gathering me up in his arms tenderly. I kissed him, lightly at first, then leaned just a little bit more.   
I broke away first, his breath still in my face as he stared at me. It was the way he looked, maybe. Something in the way his face smoothed out, gracefully. Almost like there was an angel hiding in a mortal body. Or maybe he looked that way just because I loved him.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The next morning, I woke up to the smell of fresh brewed coffee. It wasn't more than 6:32 in the morning, but I knew that Sally had been up before that. She was always punctual at getting up at 6:15. If there was every an award giving to most cheerful morning person, it would have to be for her.   
Sally loved coffee. It was one of her essence of being, like the way singing is an essence for birds. She loved mocha, cappuccino, vanilla, all sorts. And she never ceased to make sure I drank some too. Coffee, she said, was one of the perfect drinks humans created, along with tea and wine. Sometimes, she and I would go exploring her coffee shelves. There were all types of coffee, like displays of wine. She would point to one and tell me where she got it and what type, how it was grown, and all sorts of things. She had a wonderful memory.  
Sally was a DASIE, or data advancer/ stimulation/incorporation engineer. She took care of stats and data, along with crime information, to form organized "nets" where officers like me could look up things easily. Heero and Trowa were part-time DASIEs who worked when they needed extras. Duo, Wufei and Quatre were part-time SASIEs, or system analysis stimulation innovation engineers. They worked on new software and came up with stimulations on different cases, especially the ones involving many details. I wasn't part of any of the organizations, mostly because I was needed so much as a police and not as a computer worker. Computers never were my strong point.  
The door was cracked open as Sally cautiously stuck her head in. "Oh, so you're awake now," she greeted me, smiling. I sat up, throwing back the covers and slipped my feet into the pair of slippers placed neatly next to my bed. Sally already had a cup of coffee in her hand. She was all dressed and ready to go. When she had first joined the Preventer group, Sally had her golden blonde hair tied in rolled up pigtails. Now, it was brushed back in a ponytail, very practical. I smiled back, then gestured to the coffee cup.  
"What is it this morning?"   
"French vanilla with a touch of Belgium chocolate. One I got from my grandparents' own coffee mill. " I inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the coffee. It did smell slightly like chocolate, but it smelled more warm and friendly than anything. "You'll like it. But get dressed first," she added, looking for all the world like an over protective mother. I waved her off, closing the door behind her. I heard her walk away, then smiled and made my way to the closet. A pair of jeans, a white shirt, that would be enough. She wasn't in uniform today. That wasn't until Thursday. It was still Tuesday, a bright shining Tuesday during summer. Changing into my clothes, I remembered that in a week would be Trowa's birthday. We would have to throw a party for him. We hadn't had anything fun to go to for days.  
Sally's room was right across from mine. The rooms were in the end of the hallway upstairs. There was a computer or work room and a bathroom. The bathroom was shared, which wasn't bad because it had two sinks. I walked into the bathroom, humming a tune to myself cheerfully. The bathroom was mostly decorated in blue. It was really pretty, and Sally usually kept it really neat, along with the whole house. The place looked nice. I usually did all the more manual labor, like the garden outside. Sally would help, but I wouldn't let her. She worked in the house, so I did the outside. It was a fair trade.  
Without bragging, I can say that I am a pretty good chef, and better than Sally. My grandpa had taught me, and I caught on quickly. He used to tell me, "Food is an art. You have to do it right, or you shouldn't do it at all." It is true. I love to cook Italian food though. The pasta, the spices, the sauces, the cheese and everything else always envelops me in their scents and flavors. Italian cooking requires heart and soul, along with quite a bit of talent.  
I brushed my teeth and washed my face, brushing my wet bangs out of my face. They fell back again though, so I left them alone. As I walked down the stairs, the smell of coffee grew stronger.   
We have a large kitchen, with a dining table. A living room was to the right of the kitchen, and there was a nice deck out back. There was also a small sun room. All in all the house was pretty small, but considering there was only two people living there, it wasn't bad.   
Sally was sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in one hand and an open newspaper in the other. When she heard me walk in, she turned her head, smiling, and gestured with her head over to the coffee pot. I nodded my thanks and walked over to the cabinet where the cups were held. As I poured my coffee, I asked, "Sally, anything important in the news today?" She shook her head, taking a sip out of her cup.  
"Nothing that seems too obviously so." The blonde flipped a page, laughing as she did so. "'Course, if there was, it wouldn't be in the paper first." I nodded, picking up my coffee and sitting down at the table. We weren't due at HQ until 7:30, and it was still 6:48. Sally had already made some toast, which was piled up in a plate on the middle of the table. I picked up a piece, taking a bite, and then read the back of Sally's paper.   
The calm of my surroundings was interrupted with the sharp, abrupt sound of the video-phone beeping. I walked over to where it was placed on the wall next to the regular telephone. A familiar face popped up. It was one with blue-violet eyes, set against a heart-shaped face of an American. It had long brown hair braided back, but with the masculine beauty of a doll. "Duo," I greeted him, smiling. Something in his face, however, notified me that whatever he had to say was not something I wanted to hear.   
He managed a strange, weak, smile and said, "Hi." I creased my eyebrows, bracing myself for whatever would come. There was a long pause on both sides. "I don't think you want to hear this," he said, in a blunt tone of voice. I restricted the urge to say, Well, duh, I'm not an idiot. It didn't seem like the right time or situation.   
"Yeah, I know." He smiled again. Then his face hardened, some miraculous force of will allowing him to say the next few words:  
  
"Quatre got shot."  
  
  
~Tsuzuku~  
To be continued…  
  
  
Love it so far? Hate it so far? Give me an e-mail!   
- Sincerely,  
ShinigamiForever  
  
  



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